Lucky Star: Extra Collexion
by Symantra
Summary: A collection of moments regarding mainly Konata and Kagami. Events that don't really fit into Between Two Friends. [Chapter 1 never existed.]
1. Lives Lost, No Longer

_Some time shortly after Konata and Kagami confessed their relationship, Kagami was getting to know Mr. Izumi_

"Kagami.. I have to talk to you about something."

"Hm? Sure, what's up?"

Kagami looked up at the father of her lover curiously. His voice had taken on a more serious note, something that the man rarely did. Konata had just ran out of the house to go shopping for groceries, leaving Kagami waiting in the Izumi household, along with the origin otaku, Sojiro Izumi.

"It's about Konata.. No, no, not about you and her!" He added quickly, seeing the fear plainly written on the girl's face.

"Konata has told you about her mother, Kanata..?" Sojiro confirmed, more of a statement than a question.

"Yes.. I saw a picture of her. They look almost alike.."

"Konata looks nearly exactly like her mother.. but she has my personality. It's actually rather strange. I'd expected her to take more of an interest in the things Kanata did, but she grew up with only a father figure in her life.. So it's unavoidable that she learned my ways." Sojiro sighed wistfully, thinking back to the things Kanata had liked to do. "She was so kind. She put up with me and my ways, and I kept my love everlasting for her. She said that as long as I was happy, as long as we made our daughter happy, she would be happy."

A reminiscent look was in Sojiro's eye. "For the month after Konata was born, she was already accepting her fate. She told me that, in her short life of just over twenty years, she had been more happy than she ever thought she'd be."

Kagami sat quietly, letting the old man remember his wife. She leaned forwards, putting her hands over his. "I'm sure she was. I know she would've wanted to live longer, but I'm sure she is watching over you from wherever she is now."

"Thank you, Kagami. My heart doesn't ache as much now.." Sojiro smiled gratefully, before his face clouded over.

"Kanata died in her early twenties.. I'm only a couple years older than her."  
"Konata shares a lot of things with her mother.." The world seemed to slow down around the two of them. Kagami felt a great fear settle in her heart, and she felt like she was on the verge of tears.

"She shares her appearance..  
.. her height..  
.. and her lifespan.."

Kagami put her head in her hands, her arms shaking weakly. _"No, no no no.. Konata won't die in a couple years.. no, that isn't an option! No, no, not so soon.. she's not even out of highschool.. her life can't be this short.."_

Sojiro leaned over the table, putting his hands around Kagami's wrists, moving her hands away from her face. "But you know what they told me.. when Kanata passed away?"

"They told me that my daughter would be alright."

Sojiro leaned back in his seat, a borderline delirious smile on his face now. "They said they had starting working on a way to prevent the disease from taking more lives, years before Kanata was bed-ridden."

"They said they were close to solving it. Finally, a cure to whatever damned disease took my lovely wife away from me.."

"It won't take my Konata away.. It won't take our Konata away from us."

Wiping away tears, Kagami smiled happily. She pushed her chair back, walked briskly around the table, and gave the man a hug. Her body was shaking with relief, no longer with fear. She felt a new bridge between herself and the elder otaku.

"Thank you.. dad." Kagami tested out the word, smiling as it settled in perfectly. "I'm glad Konata was in such good hands for her entire life."

Sojiro smiled, returning the hug, a happy feeling in his heart as the word father sprung from the girl's lips. "Thanks.. my daughter. I'll leave Konata to yous.. I know she'll be in good hands for the rest of her life."

/-/

Opening the door, Konata slipped off her shoes, making a beeline for the kitchen. She had found the best things, and she couldn't wait to see what she could do with them for dinner. She called out a greeting to Kagami and her dad, who were-

"..."

"Ehh?! My girlfriend is cheating on me for my pervert dad?!" Konata cried out dramatically, putting a hand to her head and swooning. Kagami, her face lighting up, shouted and ran over to her.

"N-no, I wasn't.. we were just.. hey, Konata, listen to me!"

"D-dad.. Since when did you master the path of tsundere?! G-gah, I have.. trained you too well.. I leave Kagami in good hands."


	2. His Everything

_December 23, Evening_

"Don't you think Kagami is a lot like Kyou?" Konata tossed out, putting a hand on her chin and frowning. Sojiro pursed his lips and his eyebrows came together in thought.

"She shares a lot of the same traits, such as the tsundere personality, the long hair.. But what about some of the other things? For example, Kyou is a great cook, and Kagami is.. well, you know."

"Kyou and Ryou are exactly like them though! Kyou is a tsundere, long hair, tall, beautiful, and Ryou is cute and innocent. On top of that, they're twins with the same purple hairstyles as our twins!"

"Even though they're both tsundere, Kyou has more of a temper. She jumps to conclusions and swears a lot more than Kagami."

"You're right about that, but Kagamin is scary when she's mad. But I guess, Kyou is almost always mad, so.."

Konata and her father could hold conversations like this for hours. They definitely had done that when the petite girl was still in middle school. She would come home from school, change into her casual clothes, and sit down with her father to play games and talk about whatever came to mind. It wasn't quite like talking with Kagami, but Konata enjoyed the time she spent with her father too.

Sojiro was reminded of previous years when Konata walked through the doorway of the house. She had climbed up the stairs, changed her clothes, and was back down in the living room in under three minutes, grabbing a controller and joining in the game, not missing a beat as she started to set up combos and assist her father in tearing up the battlefield. Her skill more than covered for Sojiro when he looked away from the screen to smile at his daughter.

 _"She hasn't changed, and yet.. she has. I'm glad my daughter is growing up, but I can't help feeling a bit left out."_

/-/

Sojiro placed his pencil down with a relaxed sigh. _"There we go.. I guess I rushed the final couple of sentences, but I'll fix it later. As long as I have the idea, I can rewrite it.. but for now, I need to take a break."_

Stretching his arms above his head, he groaned with satisfaction. _"Gonna get something to eat.."_

Just as he was about to stand up to head down to the kitchen, a plate was placed in front of him. "Huh?"

"You must be hungry. I made this for you, so just relax!" There was something in the gently uttered words that shocked him, yet he wasn't sure why.

"Oh, thank you Konata.." Sojiro thanked his daughter, but the situation didn't click right. It sounded like his daughter, but..

He turned around slowly thinking he would see Konata standing there with her signature cat smile, but there was an irrational part of his brain that led him to hope that he would turn around and see..

".. Kanata?"

"Finally recognized me, Sou-kun?"

Sojiro was rooted to his chair. He couldn't speak or get up, he just stared at the blue-haired woman in front of him. His mouth opened and closed in a vain effort to speak, and finally managed to get out a single word.

"K.. Kanata.."

Slowly standing up, he stepped towards the woman who still held a special place in his heart. He embraced her with a sharp intake of breath, a feeling of both warm and cold in his chest as Kanata hugged him back. Was this real? He couldn't tell, nor did he care. The only thing that needed attention right now was right in front of him.

"How is my daughter?" Kanata asked, her soothing voice more fulfilling than any music.

"She looks almost exactly like you, doesn't she?" The spirit found the answer to her question not in his words, but with the compelling smile on his face.

"Isn't it wonderful? Although, I just wish she didn't have your personality.." Kanata laughed softly as her husband pretended to be hurt, shaking his head and wiping away an invisible tear. When she spoke again, her voice had lost the playful teasing manner. Sojiro could feel the calm seriousness in her words.  
"Are you.. doing well?"

".. I'm alright. You?" He was surprised with the sobriety in his own voice. Sojiro had already figured it out, but his heart was reminding him of the importance of this scene.

"Wonderful. All I have is all I need.. the ability to be watch over you and my daughter for every moment of both of your lives." Kanata smiled serenely.

Sojiro didn't speak for a moment. His unusually serious eyes shielded his emotions, but they started to waver as he opened his mouth to continue the conversation.

"You know.. I wish you were here.. with us..

"To be her mother.. to be my wife..

"It's selfish of me, I know, but why did you have to leave? Why did you have to leave so early?" Tears welled in his eyes, blurring his vision. He closed his eyes, feeling a wetness run down his cheek.

When he opened his eyes, she wasn't there. The only woman he cared about had vanished from his world once again, leaving him standing alone in his room.

But she was still there. He couldn't see her, but it still seemed like she was standing there in front of him. He could still feel her cool hands caress his face, wiping away his tears and replacing them with a lovely feeling. Then he heard her, not with his ears but with his heart.

 _"Thank you for being a wonderful husband, and a good father. I still love you Sou-kun, and I love Konata. Please, don't forget that I'll always be watching._

 _"I'm sorry.. for leaving so soon."_

Instead of bringing him to to tears, it felt like the words lifted his soul. Sojiro smiled, a bittersweet expression. He had regrets, but felt content. His sorrows, his joy.

"Don't be sorry.. Thank you. For being my everything."


	3. Hallow's Eve

In front of the Izumi Household, 6:20 PM

Suppressing a sigh, Kagami walked up the familiar path to the front door of the house she seemed to visit so often nowadays. Foreboding drilled a pit into her stomach, and she briefly wondered if it was a good idea, approaching Konata's festively decorated house.

Stepping up onto the porch, her eyes wandered and landed on all of the aesthetically pleasing items scattered around. There were fake cobwebs covering the windows and piles of pumpkins were set up all around- the pumpkin on top of every pile had some strange symbol or engraving carved into it, and there was a candle inside each one.

Her gaze fell on a small basket with some large, neatly-written _kanji_ attached to the side. The lettering read _"Please take one!"_ , which obviously referred to the assorted candies and snacks that were inside. Kagami looked into the basket for a second, and she reached in and grabbed a small candy. She was going to leave it at that, but on second thought she turned back and peered into the basket again. Maybe just one more..

"Konata really goes all out for Halloween, huh.." Kagami sighed as she looked up at the _hauntingly_ decorated door. The only decorations on it were more imitation cobwebs, cut-out pumpkins, and what was clearly a fake spider tied to the door knob.  
"Well this is nothing new. From what Miyuki told me, she does this every year anyways.."

She raised a hand to knock on the door, but right before she made contact, the door swung inwards. Kagami blinked in surprise, finding herself standing face-to-face with the event host.

"..?" Konata looked up at her under the brim of a wide witch's hat with a neutral- and rather bored- expression.

"Trick or treat!" The bluenette cheered, throwing her hands up in the air.  
"Did you bring me lots of candies, Kagamin?"

"No. A sugar-hyper Konata is the last thing I want to deal with. You're already pretty annoying as is." Kagami snorted, smirking when she saw the pout on her friend's face.

"Aww, whatever. I guess it's okay if you didn't bring me free stuff." Konata shrugged, and her lips formed a grin as she transitioned into the next topic.  
"So, what do you think of my costume?"

Kagami realized she was already checking the costume out, and she looked away frantically, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.

"W-Whatever. It's okay, I guess."

Konata chuckled to herself, pushing the hat backwards a little bit to reveal her verdant eyes and more of her voluminous blue hair.

"Alright, you're being boring. Let's just go inside already before you catch a cold, my dear." She grabbed Kagami's arm, towing her along as she closed the front door and made her way into the living room, ignoring the minute struggling and complaining of her younger companion.

"My dad's out, don't ask why, and Yu-chan is in her room, so try not to be too loud, okay?" Konata warned, putting a finger to her lips. Her robe was practically draped over her, leaving the sleeves hanging off of her wrists. Kagami looked away, feigning indifference- trying not to look at the _otaku_ with too much interest. She sat down on the cushiony sofa, stretching her arms out.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Oh yeah, Kagamin! Did you see the basket outside? Of course you did, it's not like my Kagamin to miss free sweets. Did you take one?"

"First of all, watch yourself unless you want to make me angry." Kagami looked over her shoulder, annoyance creasing her features.  
"And yes, I did take one, thank you."

"Did you take two?" Konata's grinning face appeared next to hers, causing Kagami to fall backwards in shock.

"H-hey!" The _tsundere_ picked herself up off of the sofa with a protest.  
"Don't startle me like that, geez!"

"Avoiding the question! Strike one. Did you take more than one?"

"What? I took a candy.."

"Indirect lying! Strike two. How many did you take?"

"J-just one.."

"Kagamin is lying to me!" Konata accused, wrapping her arms around Kagami's shoulder and pouting, before she .  
"Strike three! I get to play a trick on you now!"

"W-wait, hold on! What trick?" Kagami leaned forwards in an attempt to distance herself from Konata, but she was held fast by Konata, whose size betrayed her strength.

"Hold still, girl! I'm not going to bite you or anything." Konata complained, pressing her face up to Kagami and giggling.

"Hey!"

Kagami hesitated, and almost immediately felt a light touch on her cheek. She gasped silently, then felt a burning sensation on her face.

"K-Konata! Why did you do that?!" She stumbled over her words, face flush with embarrassment.

"One extra candy costs one kiss, Kagamin." She stated matter-of-factly. Konata seemed to think nothing more of the fact as she pressed her face a little bit closer to Kagami's, her expression not changing from mildly mischievous.  
"Of course, if you want some eye candy from me, I guess I could make an exception just for you."

"You're already pushing it!" Kagami muttered as she groaned outwardly.  
"I only came because you were practically on your knees about it, so if you annoy me I'll just leave."

"You're always so mean to me, Kagami~!" Konata whined but she retracted her arms and turned around, walking towards the staircase.

"Where are you going?"

"To get your costume! I have like, five that I want you to try on tonight!"

"What?! I didn't sign up to be your cosplay model! I'm not gonna put anything on!"

"But that's the whole point of Halloween, Kagamin! You have to dress up! Come on, I'm not telling you to walk around without your clothes.. just, like, less than what you have on right now."

"Ugh. If you force me into doing something weird, I swear you'll **never** want to invite me to your party ever again."

"You're so _tsun_ today, Kagami. Don't worry, you being here ten minutes early means that Tsukasa and Miyuki won't walk in on us- won't walk in on you when you're changing."

"I told you, I'm not going to change into anything!"

"But you just implied that you'll try on a couple costumes!"

"Stop twisting my words around!"

 _End_

 _Happy Halloween_


	4. Holy Eve

_"How did it even turn out like this.."_

Kagami bit her lip to stop herself from lashing out at her tormentor. It wouldn't do any good to antagonize the person who was, more or less, her host on this cold, winter night. If she was to spend the entire night at Konata Izumi's house, the worst thing she could do was start an argument.

Sure, she didn't want to deal with Konata right now. After all, it was Christmas Eve and she'd rather be doing anything else than playing video games at her best friend's house- not literally, of course- but she still felt a slight bit of gratefulness towards the blue-haired _otaku_. Her friend may be an enthusiast about all the wrong things, but that didn't change the fact that the girl was mutually her best friend. If Konata was willing to be hospitable, then she should at least return the favor and be a good guest.

But still, she felt a spark of annoyance at the fact that, out of all the other things she could be doing, she was at the Izumi house playing _2p versus_ video games. Not that she resented Konata or anything, but it seemed like such a.. such a waste of the holidays to spend it with someone she was already around practically all year.

That being said, Kagami wasn't in the best of moods. While most visits to her friend's house usually ended up in friendly rivalry over a video game (even the "study sessions" turned out that way), the air in the room was layered with tension. She was fully aware that the awkward atmosphere was her fault; when Kagami had first arrived, Konata had tried numerous times to strike up a conversation- each time, she received either no response or a couple words. Now they sat in relative silence, save for the tapping of buttons on the console's controllers.

Kagami's eyes glanced at the top corner of the screen, noting her character's status and current health. It was steadily going down, draining like someone had cut a hole in the bottom of a flask of vivid-blue water. Her fingers reactively sped up, going into overdrive as they started to hit the buttons faster and more repetitively as her mind did its best to keep her virtual self from death-

When her side of the screen flashed and took on a grayscale tint, Kagami growled in annoyance. While she wasn't normally one to let video games get to her, dieing against Konata really wasn't something that helped her feel any better about the situation.

"H-hey, Kagamin.. You okay?" The figure to her right asked in a half-whisper. Kagami immediately pushed away her temper at the nervous tone in Konata's voice, knowing that the girl probably thought she was frustrated over losing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I'm not mad at you," she replied.

For a moment neither of them spoke. In her peripheral vision, Kagami could see the vibrant greens of Konata's eyes.

"Do you.. want something to drink?" Konata asked weakly.  
"There are snacks too.."

"Um.. yeah, sure. Er, let me get them. You can stay here," she said as she got to her feet, motioning somewhat frantically for Konata to sit down. Bemused, the blue-haired girl complied and stayed put.

Kagami kept her back to Konata, but she still picked up on the nearly inaudible sigh coming from behind her. Forcing herself to keep walking, Kagami furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. There was no point to keeping up this uncomfortable atmosphere. Why was she being so frosty towards her best friend anyways? It was Christmas, for the love of-

That was it, wasn't it?

Was she hesitant to interact with Konata because it was Christmas? Kagami wanted to slap herself in the head. She had let her ideas of a romantic night out on the town interfere with her relationship with her best friend; not that she even had a romantic partner, yet here she was dreaming about having one.

Kagami sighed through her teeth, reprimanding herself for being an idiot. Now she had to go fix things up with Konata, or else this awkward tension would continue for the rest of the night.

Grabbing some random drinks from the fridge, she pushed the door closed with her foot and headed back towards the central room.

"O-oh, Kagami.. Did you find what you wanted?" Konata looked up as Kagami walked in.

"Konata, stop it," said Kagami.

"Stop what?"

"You know.. being nervous. Stop it," she said.

"I'm sorry-" Konata apologized before Kagami cut her off again.

"See? Stop."

"..."

Following that exchange was silence. Weighty, tense silence. Kagami placed the tray of snacks and the drink she had brought from the fridge on the surface of the short table, sitting down on the same side as Konata. She snuck a glance at her friend. Her head was turned straight, looking down at an angle, and her hands were out of sight, hidden behind her knees.

"Alright!" All of a sudden, Konata's head snapped up and she turned to face Kagami with a wide smile on her face.  
"I'm not nervous anymore."

"Well that was fast.." Kagami muttered, but she had to lessen the smile that made its way onto her face. Something about Konata's happy-go-lucky nature was enough to pick your emotions up into the clouds and drop it back into the sea, over and over again.

"I was just sort of worried about you, Kagami.." Konata started again, the smile that was previously there starting to fade.  
"You were so distant.. you were ignoring me and I thought I did something wrong.. Did I?"

"No, of course not," Kagami reassured her.  
"It was all my fault, okay? I was confused, because it was Christmas and I thought that this would be awkward, but I was wrong. You're my best friend, Konata, and nothing will change that. So, let's enjoy the night, alright?"

"..." Konata blinked slowly. A mischievous smirk grew on her lips.  
"Wow, I already got friendzoned.. Damn."

"Hey.." Kagami glared at her, hiding the satisfaction she felt at having gotten Konata back to her regular self. It was obvious that the blue-haired girl wanted to change the subject so she could move away from the topic of her previous behavior. She decided not to pursue the issue, although she knew that Konata would've actually taken notes as possible if roles had been swapped.

"I know, just kidding. I'm not that sensitive, or that romantic, or whatever," Konata shrugged.  
"You know me!"

They shared a quick laugh. Their eyes met, and Kagami smiled as wide as she could- just this one time.

"Hey, Kagamin.. When you said _let's enjoy the night_ , what were you implying?" Konata asked, her voice dripping with innocence.

"Hmm?" Kagami tilted her head, not quite understanding.

"Well, I don't mean to be picky about your taste, but.. This is alcoholic- like, super high concentration, you do realize that?" Konata voice was deadpan as she pointed at the bottle on the table.

Kagami turned to look at the drink she had grabbed out of the fridge while she had been distracted by her own thoughts. When she looked at Konata again, the girl had a devilish smile on her face.

"Are you trying to get me drunk? Is that what's going on here?"

"No, I swear to everything that I wasn't looking! I didn't even know it was alcohol! Plus, why do you even have this in your house?!" She argued, knowing that a reddish-pink blush was starting to tint her cheeks out of embarrassment.

"You're never going to live this down, _Ka-ga-min_! Oh, repaying my kindness to you by attempting to do lewd things to my inebriated self.. You know, let's actually do that!"

Kagami groaned, burying her face in her arms.

"What the heck, of course not!"

* * *

 _ **~ [Happy Holidays! -Sym] ~**_


	5. April Fool

" _Shigatsu baka_!" A loud voice yanked Kagami from her slumber. Of course, this rude awakening did not improve her early-morning mood. In fact, it only made her feel more annoyed than she usually did when she woke up. She turned over, pulling her blanket up and pressing her face into her pillow. Her initial reaction was to ignore the voice and let herself drift off again, but that plan was voided when the voice reminded her that it was still there. "Good morning, Kagamin! Rise and shine!"

"K-Konata..." She growled, her face muffled by the cushion it was pressed into. A second later, the pillow flew across the room and she jumped up and swung her legs off the bed, squinting her eyes and looking for the familiar blue color she knew the intruder would bear. After a moment of glaring at the wall, she realized—nobody was there.

Confused, she stared at the empty space. Had she been hallucinating when she heard the voice of her friend? If that were the case, she would have to figure out the reasons why the girl appeared in her dreams, and avoid those causes in the future.. Chances were, she had just been dreaming. It was time for her to wake up anyway; today was a Saturday, but one of her personal rules was to regulate her sleeping schedule, even on the weekends.

Grumbling to herself, Kagami picked her pillow up off the ground and tossed it back onto her bed. Since she was already up—one of her pet peeves was her inability to return to sleep after waking—she might as well wash up and prepare for the day. She went to the door, her first destination being the bathroom.

While she was rinsing her face under the running water, Kagami's mind had nowhere else to drift but the first event of the day; unfortunately, it was an unpleasant one. " _Shigatsu baka_ , huh?" She sighed as the words clicked in her head like the pieces of a puzzle. What a way to start the day; before she had even woken up, she had already been a victim of an April Fool's Day prank, and indirectly at that.

She shut off the faucet and shook off the water on her hands. She had known Konata for three years now, and this was the second year in a row that she woke up on the first day of the fourth month with Konata as a friend. Last year, the blue-haired girl had celebrated the anniversary of their friendship with a practical joke. While Kagami didn't resent her for it, it didn't make Konata any less annoying.

A sigh escaped her lips and she violently wrung the handtowel to dry her hands. Nobody passed her as she left the bathroom. This meant that she was either first or last of her siblings to use the washroom, since her two elder sisters would always commandeer the morning utilities for consecutive use. As it turns out, the latter was true; she knew this from the sound of chatter from downstairs.

While descending the stairs, it became apparent that she wasn't just the last of her sisters to use the restroom, but of all the members in her household. Several voices, her parents included, reached her ears as she set foot on the ground floor and rounded the corner.

"Good morning, Kagami," her mother greeted her as she entered the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready, so go ahead and eat before someone takes your portion," she said. Like she always did, Kagami thanked her and took her seat. The one difference in the room did not escape her eye for detail, even though it was tiny—shorter than average.

"Hey, Kagamin! You're finally up?" The voice from her literal waking dream, dare she say nightmare, was the first thing she heard as she sat down. Kagami resisted the urge to groan, sigh, or express her frustration in any way.

"Why are you here, Konata?" She smiled at Tsukasa before turning a baleful gaze back on the only one present who wasn't of the Hiiragi name. Her intimidation had the desired effect, as Konata immediately shrunk back and put a hand up in defense.

Eager to finish her meal and escape the dining room, Kagami ate quickly while Konata Izumi explained herself. The explanation was more than she cared for on a Saturday morning. "I'm just visiting my friends! I don't have anything to do today, so I figured I would stop by and play video games with you or something," Konata summarized with a grin. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Like I'll actually believe that," muttered Kagami. Her dissent was met with what had to be false innocence. "I know what day it is. You sort of yelled it into my ear while I was sleeping."

Konata let out a nervous laugh and averted her eyes, saying, "It's fine, it's fine. That was all I had planned for today, I swear! I didn't come here with the intention of ruining your whole day or anything." Even though the girl held up both hands, crossed her heart, and went as far as to offer a pinky promise, Kagami couldn't help but feel suspicious as her little finger wrapped around Konata's.

 _ **April Fool**_

The day seemed to pass slower than usual, something that Kagami could point a finger at her companion for. It seemed like Konata was not planning on leaving anytime soon; against her will, the girl was staying in her room. While she wasn't normally against having a friend over, she was still miffed by what had happened earlier. The date may have been partially to blame. April Fools' Day was some sort of western tradition, an occidental "holiday" that managed to find its way to Japan to wreak havoc upon unsuspecting girls like herself. Remembering what had happened last year, Kagami shot a piercing glance in the direction of the blue-haired girl laying on her bed, flipping through the pages of one of the light novels that had been found on the bookshelf.

"Do you plan on staying here all day?" She finally asked, pausing her game to turn and watch her visitor with hostile eyes. Konata only looked at her, almost like she was amused.

"Is that okay?" Answering the question with another only served to irritate the room owner even further.

"Not really, but I guess I can't do anything to make you leave." She sighed and resumed the game she was playing, jumping back into the frenetic gameplay without missing a beat.

There was no homework to do, no places to go. School was not in session yet, and Kagami wanted to enjoy the few days she had left. The stack of books she planned to read grew throughout the school week and, when she was working efficiently, halved every weekend. Over the summer, she had managed to keep it down to one or two books at a time, sometimes even clearing it completely. With Konata here, she was unable to read for the fact that a novel she was in the middle of reading was in the hands of the aforementioned person. As an avid reader, she avoided starting a new book until she was finished with the one she was currently reading. It just so happened that Konata had also taken an interest in that particular series, and she had no qualms about taking the book from Kagami. That left the lavender-headed girl without anything to do.

She absently looked over at the girl on the bed, whose face was turned away and buried in the light novel she had stolen. For someone with an attention span as short as hers, it was impressive to see her already halfway done. To be honest, Konata could be rather impressive in general. The primary factor was probably her reputation as a lazy personality, but Kagami never failed to take notice of her friend's huge reserves of dedication—at least, when she was doing something that she enjoyed. Konata was the type of person who put twice as much effort into their hobbies and half-assed their studies. This didn't take away from the fact that the otaku could get things done when she set her mind to it.

Kagami thought back to some of the more surprising things Konata had done. Although she was a regular pain in the neck, the enthusiast had shown that she cared about her friends on many occasions. It was almost endearing, to remember the sweeter things the girl had done for her and for other people—given, most of them had been followed up by something to break the mood or ruin the moment, but that was just the way Konata functioned.

Today, the balance seemed precarious. On one hand, Konata had not yet done anything to deserve the suspicion and brusque attitude she was being shown; on the other, she was also a born troublemaker, and the date was Saturday, four one. Any number of traps could be waiting for her as soon as she left the room, and Kagami was not looking forwards to springing any of them.

Hours passed. She stayed in her room the majority of the day, only leaving for lunch and to get snacks for Konata and herself. Everybody else seemed content to do the same; it was Saturday, and apparently a good week for relaxation. The more time passed, the tenser Kagami felt.

"Hey Kagami!" Out of nowhere, Konata called out to her. She sounded excited about something, a detail that immediately set Kagami on her guard.

"Yes?" She watched Konata as the girl rolled off the bed and rose to her feet. Blue hair flew everywhere as Konata bounded up to her.

"Let's go to the kitchen." She extended a hand, holding it in front of Kagami. "I brought something to share with you and your family."

Kagami accepted the hand and let Konata help her to her feet with uncanny strength. Apprehension flooded her features as she followed after Konata, who had already left the room. She had survived for nearly three quarters of the day without a repeat of last year's event, which she remembered now with frightening clarity.

Her foots landed heavily on the stairs, and she rounded the corner to see Konata reaching into the fridge and taking out a white paper box. Then, the girl set the table with one, two, four sets of eating ware—for herself, Kagami, Tsukasa, and Mother Hiiragi, probably. Kagami knew that her sisters were out of the house, doing something or other related to "making up for lost time," to quote their words exactly.

"I ran out and bought this earlier," Konata gave her an endearing smile. The white box went on the table, and the lid was lifted and taken away. Inside the box was a bowl of classic, fragrant—

"Pudding?" Her eyes went wide, surprised by the contents of the container. She had seen the box earlier, when she had opened the fridge to grab a drink, but she hadn't made the connection between its appearance and Konata's appearance.

"I made it at home yesterday night," the blue-haired girl told her. Her lips curved upwards into that oh-so-familiar smug grin. "I was testing out a new recipe I found on the Internet, and I decided I would make some extra. There's some at home for Yutaka and Dad, and me, but I also made this batch because we had a lot of ingredients. So I figured, Tsukasa likes pudding, you like sweet stuff, and everybody likes home-made dessert, so I would bring this over and—"

Kagami didn't wait any longer to walk around the table and physically shush the girl. "You don't need to tell me the whole story. I understand everything. Thanks."

As Kagami released Konata from her hug, the girl stared at her with wide eyes. She found her voice after a couple seconds, but by the time she could ask why she had been given a hug out of nowhere, Kagami Hiiragi had already turned away and walked off to find her sister and her mother.

* * *

 _Happy April Fools' Day!_

Yeah, I know I haven't been uploading. Give me some time, I have three bullets in the chamber. By that, I mean I'm almost done editing like, three chapters of content.


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